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Old 2nd Oct 2011, 19:46
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Old-Duffer
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Northamptonshire
Posts: 1,457
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TTN is absolutely right.

When the (then) Imperial War Graves Commission was formed, one of the first things they set down was that there would be standard symbols of commemoration, to reflect the 'equality of sacrifice'. For those with a known and marked grave it's a stone 2'6" in height by 1'3" wide (or something like that). The various nations commemorated have a slightly different top to the headstone and British dead outside the war period also have a slightly different headstone top.

Whether you are Field Marshal The Lord Ismay or Private Bloggs, you are recognised equal before your God.

An interesting aside, I recall that at the funeral procession of a terrorist in Northern Ireland in the early '70s, the cortage was saluted by the Army personnel on security duties and I know that enemy personnel who were killed in UK were accorded an honorable burial and a lasting commemoration, as witness the Cannock Chase German cemetery.

This is far cry from the Indonesian Army, who left the remains of my friend in a jungle swamp in Borneo and murdered the three prisoners they captured alive.

O-D
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